Biocompatible and biodegradable polymers have been prepared for use in many applications including drug delivery, artificial implants, tissue engineering, and organ regeneration. These polymers are generally designed for specific biomedical needs. Polymers used for drug delivery, for example, are generally unsuitable in objects intended for use in long-term implants, and polymers used for bone tissue regeneration are inappropriate for use in soft tissue engineering applications. Although there are many publications describing the use of rigid polymers for tissue engineering, soft or elastomeric polymers for use in soft-tissue scaffolds has been largely ignored.
Some biodegradable polymers are currently used for soft-tissue engineering applications. However, these materials suffer from several limitations, including the release of toxic acidic degradation products, mechanical incompliance with soft tissue, and catastrophic loss of mechanical strength.
The desire to use tissue-engineering methods to treat tragic diseases continues to grow. Esophageal cancer and its related disorders, for example, claims the lives of more than half a million people every year. In severe cases, a surgeon will remove a large portion of the esophagus and graft a section of the intestine in its place or connect it to an upper portion of the stomach. Leakage and malnutrition, or rejection, often occur.
Esophageal tissue engineering (ETE), based on the synthesis and use of degradable polymeric scaffolds, may help prevent or otherwise minimize these problems. Unlike many applications involving biocompatible materials, ETE requires the synthesis of scaffold materials with unique mechanical, morphological, and degradation properties.
A need exists for new biocompatible polymers suitable for use in ETE and other tissue engineering applications to address these complex issues and growing needs. The present invention fulfills this need and provides further related advantages.